"A unique, open-ended conversation about the power of experimentation"

Workshop 2: Experiment as Event in the Arts and Sciences – Introductory Session

Bronislaw Szerszynski (Sociology, Lancaster University) began by thanking once again all the people involved in the organization and running of the workshop. He outlined the programme of the event and the accompanying performances. Szerszynski then invited Charlie Gere (Department of Media, Film & Cultural Studies, Lancaster University) to introduce the main themes of the workshop.

Charlie Gere stated his acknowledgements and followed by explaining the context of the workshop. Gere presented the perception of the fundamental difference between art and science as a highly problematic perpetuated idea and argued that we ought to acknowledge decades of highly experimental work performed by artists and arts created by scientists.

Charlie Gere referred to similarities between art and science in terms of things they share, such as, ideas or structures. He evolved his argument referring to the idea of the event/eventality, central to the workshop. Here, Gere acknowledged the work of Alain Badiou, Jaques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze pointing to the different ways eventality happens : novelty emerges between different domains, bound up with historicity and/or culture. Charlie Gere introduced some differences and similarities around the concept, referring to Rheinberger's eventality in the laboratory and other people’s concern about eventality in experiments. Gere closed by inviting debate around this idea.